The Register's Editorial: Dingell's long view of history is ending on a bitter note

9:44 PM,
Feb. 28, 2014

John Dingell

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The Register?s Editorial

Rep. John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1955. He was there for major congressional actions, from the passage of Medicare and Medicaid to the Civil Rights Act. He knows a thing or two about this country's history - and the Congress that helps shape that history.

Now, at the age of 87, this longest-serving lawmaker in the nation's history has announced that he will not seek re-election. In publicly reflecting on his thoughts about the legislative branch of our federal government, the World War II veteran didn't mince words.